No killer instinct: Tigers head coach Damien Hardwick laments lack of defensive effort. Photo: Michael DodgeRichmond coach Damien Hardwick has slammed the Tigers’ finish in Sunday’s loss to Hawthorn, describing his side’s late defensive efforts as “nothing short of shameful.”

Having battled stubbornly to hang in against the reigning premiers, the Tigers conceded nine final quarter goals – kicking just two of their own – ultimately falling by 70 points at the MCG.

Richmond’s final score of 5.14 (44) was their lowest in Hardwick’s seven seasons at the club.

His side may be infused with youth, but Hardwick said that was no excuse for the way they faded in the end.

“Our fans pay good money to come watch us play. And for us to finish off that last six minutes. I was incredibly disappointed in us as a side,” Hardwick said.

“The fact of the matter of is, you can lose the game, but to let the game go as we did in the last six minutes, I thought our defensive efforts were nothing short of shameful really.

“Overall it was a disappointing performance. We won’t take a lot out of today’s game.”

Hardwick said the club’s experienced players didn’t fire as hoped.

“I expect our leaders to stand up…[they] didn’t quite play as well as we’d like…we need most of those guys playing above the line, but [they] probably failed to do that today for a long enough period.”

Hardwick even downplayed the 39-disposal game of Brownlow medal fancy Dustin Martin, suggesting that the midfielder’s game was “not to his usual standard.”

“I didn’t think he was that good today,” Hardwick said.

“I thought he handballed too much early. Don’t get me wrong, his ability to win the ball is outstanding. I think sometimes he can probably take a bit of territory instead of trying to distribute the ball.”

With five games remaining in the season, Hardwick said he would continue to select plenty of young players, but needed to be careful to ensure the side remained competitive – starting with next Saturday’s clash against Greater Western Sydney in Canberra.

Injury-prone backman Dylan Grimes’ game ended early as the Tigers treated his hamstring tightness conservatively.

Hardwick was confident Grimes had not suffered another serious blow. “We think he’ll be OK, but scans will confirm that later in the week.”

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson was upbeat after his side marked champion midfielder Sam Mitchell’s 300th game in positive fashion, moving two games clear atop the ladder as well as gaining potentially valuable percentage.

“[We’re] pleased, because we had a very convincing victory in the end,” Clarkson said.

“We’re really really pleased with the win. They can be a really dangerous opponent for us in recent years, and we were pleased that we were able to have a convincing victory in the end.”

Hawthorn ended up kicking 16.18, but at one stage had posted an unflattering 7.17. Clarkson said conditions played a part in the sloppiness of the encounter.

“Both sides had some significant open opportunities that they didn’t take.

“The ground was quite heavy, probably because of the [Melbourne Victory v Juventus] game that was played there last night.

“The conditions were really swirly and difficult, and those set shots early by both sides were probably indicative of what was to come for the rest of the game.”

This story Administrator ready to work first appeared on Nanjing Night Net.